Weekend of events for new UH Manoa medical students

Sixty-two new students at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) will receive their white coats and stethoscopes on Friday, July 17, 2009, at 6:30 p.m. at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Coral Ballroom. The White Coat Ceremony traditionally welcomes incoming students into the medical profession, and marks the beginning of their study.

Hawaiʻi residents make up 89 percent of the incoming Class of 2013, including 17 students who graduated from public high schools and 30 from private high schools in the state. Seven of the students have strong ties to the neighbor islands or graduated from a neighbor island high school. Three are from Guam. Women make up 47 percent of the incoming class, with students ranging in age from 21 to 33, and an average age of 24.

The White Coat Ceremony is supported by the Alumni Association of JABSOM, the Friends of the Medical School, the school‘s Class of 1988, Pacific Medical Administrative Group Inc. (PMAG), and other individual donors.

Also at JABSOM this weekend, the Friends of the Medical School will host two events on the morning of Saturday, July 18. At 9:30 a.m., there will be a dedication of Puʻuhonua—a garden of learning—funded by bequests in tribute to Dee Lum, a founding member of the Friends. Design, landscaping, building services and materials were donated by local architecture firms Miyabara Associates and Architects Hawaii, and general contractor Hawaiian Dredging. Later, at 10:00 a.m., the Friends will host the ʻOhana Gathering to welcome friends and family of the entering class. Second-year medical students will conduct tours of the campus.